The RPL Film Theatre? “Absolutely.”

Here’s what you want to know about tonight’s council meeting: in a scrum after the RPL portion of tonight’s meet, library board director Darlene Hincks-Joehnck was asked if the Dunlop Gallery and RPL Film Theatre were still part of the library’s future. Her answer: “Oh absolutely. The Dunlop, the film theatre, all aspects of the main library will remain intact.”

So there you go. Stand down from red alert for the time being.

So why the fuss? A fair chunk of blue sky work ($400 grand, said Joehnck) was done without public input in the last couple of years and when architectural drawings were leaked, people (including us) freaked and worried that a final vision of the library was a fait accompli. And not unreasonably. Now that we have a commitment to maintain the film theatre and gallery, we can proceed forward somewhat more calmly.

We’ll have more on the blog later and of course in Thursday’s paper. The freemasons had a lot to say. We would’ve interviewed them after the council meeting but they vanished. Probably into their secret mason tunnels. Those masons!

A: “There was a cost to the whole process and I believe the cost was about $400,000.00 for the whole, last two-year process. But with that $400,000.00 the library is… what a library would look like, whether it was a stand-alone building or just on the library site or in this complex we were talking about tonight, that’s all done now. That’s work that isn’t wasted.”

Given that their lodge hall is absent from the conceptual drawings, it is not a surprise that the freemasons are concerned. This one must have slipped past them while they were secretly ruling the world.

Let me say first that I am all for a new centre for culture downtown. It seems to me though, it’s the Regina Public Library that is the more secretive organization. The RPL has two major cultural assets which would, in my opinion be excellent cornerstones of a new Cultural Centre off the park–the RPL Film Theatre and the Dunlop Gallery. However, when they are not trying to shut them down, the library only mentions them in plans when pressed by the public. Now the Globe Theatre is suddenly going to be a partner? What a coincidence, they need a new building, and so does the library, which has let its own buildings fall into ruin. Can you really trust the Regina Public Library to be the “leader” (as stated last night at council) of any project of this magnitude? Can you really believe they are going to consult the public in any meaningful way before making decisions? $400,000 later and they haven’t so far. I don’t recall being asked if I thought the Globe Theatre and the central library would be a good fit together with a cinema and an art gallery. I enjoy the Globe as a stand-alone organization.

What about the Prairie History Room? Let’s not forget that the closure several years ago also involved firing the staff in the Prairie History Room and the possibility selling off parts of the local history collection. Culture is not just about the arts. It also includes celebrating our history and our heritage.